TCS on a family, company or NRI payer: whose PAN goes on it

Whose PAN carries the TCS on an overseas tour package, when a father pays for five, a company books an employee's trip, or a client's cousin in Dubai pays her share from an NRE account? Settle it before you invoice: once deposited against a PAN, TCS is slow to move, and no CBDT FAQ covers any of these cases; treat the harder calls below as a CA question.

As of October 2026, TCS on an overseas package is a flat 2% from the first rupee (5% if the buyer gives no PAN), so the money at stake has shrunk; the identity question hasn't. Here's the rule, three worked cases, and the booking-form question that settles it.

Whose PAN goes on the TCS: the buyer's

TCS is collected from, and credited to, the buyer: the person who purchases the package (s.402(6)). The 2026 Rules credit it "to the person from whom tax has been collected or whose account has been debited" (Rule 203). So three things must match: invoice name, paying account, PAN reported.

On its face the Act excludes only a public sector company, a local authority and anyone the government notifies (check with a CA before treating a PSU or ministry booking as exempt). It says nothing about family, company or split-account bookings, and we found no circular that fills the gap. For the collect-deposit-file mechanics, see the flat 2% playbook; this post only answers whose PAN.

Why splitting a family across PANs saves nothing now

Until 31 March 2026, tour package TCS was tiered: 5% up to ₹10 lakh per buyer, 20% above, which made splitting a large booking across PANs worth real money. The Finance Act, 2026 replaced it with a flat 2% from the first rupee for buyers who give a PAN (full section map).

A ₹14,00,000 package, old slab, one PAN: ₹50,000 + ₹80,000 = ₹1,30,000. Split across two PANs of ₹7,00,000 each: ₹35,000 x 2 = ₹70,000, a ₹60,000 gap. At a flat 2%, the same package is ₹28,000 either way: splitting changes who holds the credit, not the tax itself. The non-filer penalty rate is also gone from 1 April 2025, so filing history doesn't move the rate either.

Father pays for five, or money from three accounts

Example: A 7-night Switzerland-Austria package for five (father, mother, adult son, his wife, their 9-year-old) at ₹1,20,000 each, ₹6,00,000 total.

• One invoice to the father: 2% of ₹6,00,000 = ₹12,000, one TCS certificate in his name.
• Split by payer: father buys 2 seats (₹2,40,000, ₹4,800 on his PAN); son buys 3 seats (₹3,60,000, ₹7,200 on his PAN). Total: ₹12,000, identical.

If the mother wants her own invoice for her ₹1,20,000 seat but has no PAN, the rate jumps to 5% under the no-PAN rule: ₹6,000, not ₹2,400. Put a minor's seat on whichever parent is actually paying.

Default to one invoice per payer, each from their own account. For a combined invoice, pick whose name, account and PAN match, and let that person settle privately with the rest. A part-payment, where the invoiced buyer pays most but a relative's transfer covers a slice, has no settled answer in the Act or Rule 203(7): split the invoice instead of guessing.

A company paying for an employee's trip

The company is the buyer here: its name, PAN and GSTIN go on the invoice, and the credit and certificate go to it. The TCS clock starts the moment you debit its account, if that happens before you're paid.

Example: A company books a ₹6,00,000 Europe trip for a manager and spouse on 30-day credit. Invoice raised 10 November 2026, payment lands 10 December. TCS of ₹12,000 triggers on 10 November, so deposit is due by 7 December, before you're paid. The quarterly TCS return for October-December is due 31 January 2027; the certificate follows by 15 February.

The real carve-out: the Act skips TCS only if the company is liable to deduct TDS under some other provision and has actually deducted it; both halves must hold. A corporate buyer would reach for the contractor TDS row (see this blog's TDS guide): 1% for a proprietor/HUF, 2% for a firm/company, but whether a package counts as "work" here isn't settled. Get the choice in writing: TDS deducted and certified, or TCS collected, never both.

If the employee pays from their own account, the employee is the buyer, even if the company reimburses them later. Neither a company nor an NRI (below) uses LRS, resident individuals only, so package TCS is the only TCS here.

An NRI or OCI relative paying from abroad

A foreign passport, OCI card or NRE account changes nothing by itself: the buyer test doesn't look at residence, so 2% still applies. Residence matters only for the no-PAN rate and the reported 2022 relaxation below, and it's a days count for the tax year, not a document. Under s.6, an individual is resident at 182 days in India in the year, or 60 days plus 365 across the prior four years; for an Indian citizen or person of Indian origin visiting from abroad, the 60-day limb drops out, unless income other than from foreign sources exceeds ₹15 lakh, when it becomes 120 days. At booking, you have only the client's word on this.

Example: A daughter in Dubai, non-resident, no permanent establishment in India, pays her ₹1,20,000 share from her NRE account.

• Own invoice, with PAN: 2% = ₹2,400; she recovers it only by filing an Indian return (refund guide for clients).
• Own invoice, no PAN: still 2% = ₹2,400, since the higher no-PAN rate doesn't apply to a non-resident with no permanent establishment in India, but with no PAN there's no obvious way for the credit to reach her.
• Her seat on her father's invoice: ₹2,400 becomes part of his credit; the family settles privately.

Careful: tax press reported in March 2022 that CBDT relaxed this for a non-resident visiting India, but the notification's number is unverified and may not cover an NRI joining from abroad. Don't skip TCS on a headline alone: confirm with your CA, or just collect the 2%.

Deposited under the wrong PAN

A correction statement can fix a discrepancy such as a wrong PAN within two years from the end of the tax year the statement was due (s.397(3)(f)): a quarterly TCS return for July-September 2026, due 31 October 2026, is correctable to 31 March 2029. Move fast; the longer it sits, the likelier that person has already filed a return claiming the credit.

The Rule 203 declaration that moves credit elsewhere needs the collectee's income assessable in another person's hands, typically a minor clubbed with a parent, and this row's override wording leaves it unclear whether that route works for tour-package TCS at all. Treat it as a CA question.

Anshul Anil Goel v. DCIT (ITAT Pune, 27 January 2025) shows the cost of getting this wrong: a bank collected ₹9,50,200 of TCS under a minor son's PAN, CPC denied the father credit for it despite his clubbing the son's income, and raised a ₹10,29,700 demand, and the Tribunal eventually allowed the appeal, holding the department cannot keep tax "without credit being available to anybody." A bank remittance, not a tour package: persuasive, not a template.

Under-collecting is worse for you than for the client: miss it and you're liable yourself, with interest of 1% a month until you collect and 1.5% a month from collection until you deposit (ss.397(3)(h), 398). Getting the PAN right first is cheaper than any fix after.

The booking-form question and the note to the payer

Ask this at enquiry, before you quote:

TCS DETAILS (overseas packages only)

1. Who is buying and paying for this package?
   Name exactly as on PAN: ____________________
   PAN: ____________________
   Paying from the bank account of: ____________________
   (this must be the same person as above)

2. Is anyone else paying part of this trip?  Yes / No
   If yes, each payer gets a separate invoice for their own
   seats: name, PAN, seats booked, amount.

3. Company booking?
   Company name: ____________  PAN: __________  GSTIN: __________
   Will the company deduct TDS on our invoice?  Yes / No
   (attach written confirmation if yes)

4. Is the buyer a non-resident for income tax this year?  Yes / No
   If yes: PAN (if any): __________  Country of residence: __________

Declaration: TCS will be collected and reported against the PAN in
Question 1. Once deposited, we will not move it to another person's PAN.

Signature: ____________________   Date: ____________________

Q1 locks name, PAN and account together; Q2 catches a family split in time. Q3 forces the TDS-or-TCS choice upfront. Q4 catches the NRI case before you deposit on a guess. The declaration gets sign-off on what can't be easily undone later.

Send whoever is actually paying something shorter, over WhatsApp:

TCS on your [Destination] package: a quick note

TCS is 2% on overseas packages (as of Oct 2026), not our fee.
We deposit it against the PAN of whoever is buying and paying,
so your name, PAN and paying account must all match.

It shows up in that person's Annual Information Statement and
comes back as credit or refund when they file their return.

One payer, one invoice: if more than one person is paying,
send us each payer's PAN and we'll invoice them separately.
Without a PAN, the rate is 5% instead of 2%.

Company paying? The invoice goes in the company's name, not yours.

Who pays	Invoice name	PAN on TCS	Who gets the credit
Father, for the family	Father	Father's	Father
Each adult, own seat	Each adult	Each one's own	Each payer
Company, for an employee	Company	Company's	Company

Common questions

TCS kiske PAN par katega?

Jo bhi package khareed raha hai, uske PAN par: the buyer's, matching invoice name and paying account. We found no CBDT clarification for family or company bookings; this is a statute reading, not an official answer.

Can the TCS be split between family members?

Yes, via a separate invoice per paying member, each from their own account. It doesn't cut the total collected, since the rate is flat; it only decides whose PAN carries the credit.

Company ne trip pay kiya, TCS kiska?

Company ke PAN par, unless it is liable to deduct TDS on your invoice and has actually deducted it, in which case you skip TCS on that receipt. Either way, the company's name, PAN and GSTIN go on the invoice.

NRI ke tour package par TCS lagega kya?

Haan, by default at the same 2%: the buyer test doesn't depend on residence, and an OCI card or passport doesn't make anyone non-resident. The reported 2022 relaxation for non-residents visiting India is unverified, so confirm any exemption with your CA first.

Does the package use up the client's ₹10 lakh LRS TCS threshold?

No. The Act stops the bank collecting LRS TCS on an amount the seller has already collected on (Income-tax Act, 2025), and the CBDT's 2023 FAQ, written under the old Act, treated the two thresholds as independent, with the LRS one applied per remitter.

The short version

• TCS sits against the buyer's PAN: whoever purchases, matching invoice name, paying account and PAN.
• As of October 2026 the rate is flat 2% from the first rupee, so splitting a family across PANs saves nothing; it only decides who holds the credit.
• Company-paid trips default to the company's PAN unless it is liable to deduct TDS on your invoice and has actually deducted it; never collect both on one receipt.
• NRI and OCI payers get the same 2% by default; the reported 2022 relaxation needs a CA check first.
• No PAN means 5%, not 2%, except for a non-resident with no permanent establishment in India, who stays at 2%.
• A wrong PAN can be corrected within two years from the end of the tax year the statement was due; moving credit by declaration is limited to clubbed income, and may not work for package TCS at all.
• Ask the PAN and paying-account question at enquiry, and confirm the company-TDS and NRI edge cases with your CA.